The Meta Supervisory Agency Will Review The Elimination Of The Word "Shaheed" On Its Platform

Thomas Hughes, director of the administration of the Oversight Board Meta Platforms. (photo: twitter @thomasmhughes)

JAKARTA - Oversight Board Meta Platforms said on Thursday 9 March that it will review the moderation of the word Arab "shaheed" (sahid), which means "martyr" in English. Because the word accounts for more removal of content on its platform than other words or phrases.

Meta has asked for input from the supervisory agency on whether they should continue to delete posts that use the word "shaheed" to refer to individuals designated as dangerous, or use different approaches.

Today, the Board announced that it has accepted a request from Meta for a policy advisory opinion on its approach to moderating the #Arabic term “shaheed,” which accounts for more content removals under the Community Standards than any other word or phrase on Meta’s platforms.

— Oversight Board (@OversightBoard) March 9, 2023

"This is a complex moderation issue that affects the way millions of people express themselves online and whether the Muslim community and Arabic language are affected by over-enforcement of their content due to Meta law enforcement practices," said Thomas Hughes, director of supervisory administration.

The moderation of the word can result in over-enforcement, especially in Arabic language countries, and can have an impact on reporting news in the region, notes supervisors, and requests public comments to help the decision-making process.

The supervisory agency was created at the end of 2020 to review Facebook and Instagram's decision to delete or withhold certain content and make decisions about whether to enforce or cancel the actions of the social media company.

On Thursday, the watchdog also said it would review cases related to posts calling for a "confinement" of the Brazilian congress after President Lula da Silva's election.